The Antwerp Conservatoire Library is the largest library for music and performing arts in Flanders. It houses an exceptionally rich heritage collection that documents a significant part of Flemish and Belgian musical life—particularly from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The collection includes thousands of musical manuscripts and prints, program booklets, archives, personal documents, and dance and theater heritage materials. Recognized by the Flemish Government as a heritage library of supra-local importance, it is undoubtedly one of the flagship institutions of Royal Conservatoire Antwerp.
The research group Labo XIX&XX originated within the Conservatoire Library and continues to function as a research group in residence. The collection—and the many themes it represents—serves as the primary inspiration for the topics explored within the group. Through this thematic focus, Labo XIX&XX brings together researchers from diverse backgrounds who shape the research group's projects from multiple perspectives, including performance practice, literary and theater history, library and archival studies, urban history, music analysis, digital humanities, and various interdisciplinary connections.
Labo XIX&XX holds a unique position as the only (artistic) research unit in Flanders specializing in nineteenth-century musical heritage from its own region.
Team:
Anne Pustlauk, Bram Fournier, David Vergauwen, Diederik Glorieux, Jan Dewilde, Nicholas Cornia, Simon De Paepe, Stijn Saveniers, Piet Stryckers, Hannah Aelvoet (Chair), Pauline Lebbe (Coordinator)
Contact: Pauline Lebbe - pauline.lebbe@ap.be
Update: January 2024
